Groundwater Molybdenum from Emerging Industries in Taiwan.

This study determined the influence of emerging industries development on molybdenum (Mo) groundwater contamination. A total of 537 groundwater samples were collected for Mo determination, including 295 samples from potentially contaminated areas of 3 industrial parks in Taiwan and 242 samples from non-potentially contaminated areas during 2008-2014. Most of the high Mo samples are located downstream from a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel factory. Mean groundwater Mo concentrations from potentially contaminated areas (0.0058 mg/L) were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those from non-potentially contaminated areas (0.0022 mg/L). The highest Mo wastewater concentrations in the effluent from the optoelectronics industry and following wastewater batch treatment were 0.788 and 0.0326 mg/L, respectively. This indicates that wastewater containing Mo is a possible source of both groundwater and surface water contamination. Nine samples of groundwater exceed the World Health Organization's suggested drinking water guideline of 0.07 mg/L. A non-carcinogenic risk assessment for Mo in adults and children using the Mo concentration of 0.07 mg/L yielded risks of 0.546 and 0.215, respectively. These results indicate the importance of the development of a national drinking water quality standard for Mo in Taiwan to ensure safe groundwater for use. According to the human health risk calculation, the groundwater Mo standard is suggested as 0.07 mg/L. Reduction the discharge of Mo-contaminated wastewater from factories in the industrial parks is also the important task in the future.

Destruction kinetic of PCDDs/Fs in MSWI fly ash using microwave peroxide oxidation.

Microwave peroxide oxidation is a less greenhouse gas emission and energy-efficient technology to destroy toxic organic compounds in hazardous waste. The research novelty is to adopt the innovative microwave peroxide oxidation in H2SO4/HNO3 solution to efficiently destroy the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs)/Fs in municipal solid waste incineration fly ash. The major objective of this paper is to study dynamic destruction of PCDDs/Fs using the microwave peroxide oxidation. Almost all PCDDs/Fs in the raw fly ash can be destructed in 120 min at a temperature of 423 K using the microwave peroxide oxidation treatment. It was found that the microwave peroxide oxidation provides the potential to destruct the PCDDs/Fs content in municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) fly ash to a low level as a function of treatment time. A useful kinetic correlation between destruction efficiency and treatment conditions is proposed on the basis of the experimental data obtained in this study. The significance of this work in terms of practical engineering applications is that the necessary minimum treatment time can be solved using a proposed graphic illustration method, by which the minimum treatment time is obtained if the desired destruction efficiency and treatment temperature are known. Because of inorganic salt dissolution, the temperature would be a critical factor facilitating the parts of fly ash dissolution. Material loss problem caused by the microwave peroxide oxidation and the effects of treatment time and temperature are also discussed in this paper.

Childhood tuberculosis: epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and vaccination.

Despite the existence of a government-run tuberculosis (TB) control program, the current nationwide burden of TB continues to be a public health problem in Taiwan. Intense current and previous efforts into diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive interventions have focused on TB in adults, but childhood TB has been relatively neglected. Children are particularly vulnerable to severe disease and death following infection, and children with latent infections become reservoirs for future transmission following disease reactivation in adulthood, thus fueling future epidemics. Additional research, understanding, and prevention of childhood TB are urgently needed. This review assesses the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and relevant principles of TB vaccine development and presents efficacy data for the currently licensed vaccines.

Change of serotype pattern of Group D non-typhoidal Salmonella isolated from pediatric patients in southern Taiwan.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Group D non-typhoidal Salmonella infection is increasing in Taiwan. This study aimed to investigate the changing serotypes and antibiotic resistance of childhood group D Salmonella infection. METHODS: From 1998 through 2004, children (<16 years) infected with group D Salmonella were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic data, clinical and laboratory features, and risk factors of bacteremia were analyzed. Enrolled patients were classified as acute gastroenteritis with bacteremia (Group I) and acute gastroenteritis without bacteremia (Group II). The minimal inhibitory concentrations were determined by agar dilution method. Genotyping was performed by use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). RESULTS: Eighty one children (Group I, n = 15; Group II, n = 66) were enrolled with a mean (+/- standard deviation) age of 3.1 +/- 2.6 years. Group I patients were younger and had a longer duration of fever prior to admission (> or =5 days, 40% vs 9.2%; p=0.003) and total fever duration (8.3 vs 4.1 days, p<0.001) than Group II. Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis (80%) was the most common serotype, followed by Salmonella Panama (7%). The antibiotic resistance rates of S. Enteritidis were: tetracycline (36.5%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (25.4%), ampicillin (14.3%), and chloramphenicol (12.7%). S. Panama was associated with a higher rate of bacteremia. All strains were susceptible to quinolone and third-generation cephalosporins. PFGE study showed a single genotype of S. Enteritidis and diverse genotypes of S. Panama circulating in the area. CONCLUSIONS: S. Enteritidis was the predominant serotype of group D Salmonella that caused pediatric infection in southern Taiwan during the study period from 1998 to 2004. S. Panama is associated with higher rates of bacteremia and antimicrobial resistance.